Man Utd told they are ‘asking for trouble’ by Sir Alex Ferguson’s former coach
Manchester United have been dealt a series of injury blows this summer, with Leny Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund both expected to miss the start of the league season
Manchester United are "asking for trouble" according to Rene Meulensteen (Image: Getty)
Rene Meulensteen says Manchester United need to manage player recovery better following a disastrous string of injuries. The Red Devils' pre-season tour has been nothing short of a nightmare, with both £58million star signing Leny Yoro and chief goalscorer Rasmus Hojlund both picking up lengthy injuries.
Yoro, 18, is expected to miss three months of action while Hojlund, 21, could miss up to eight weeks. It comes after the club suffered 45 separate injuries last season - more than any other team.
In terms of on-field results, United have been beaten by Rosenborg, Arsenal and Liverpool, and on Saturday they suffered a penalty shootout loss to Manchester City in the Community Shield, ending what has been a rather woeful pre-season break.
Muelensteen, who worked as an assistant coach under Sir Alex Ferguson for several years, pointed out that these matches, which should serve as a warm-up for the upcoming season, often go awry, and Erik ten Hag's United have been no exception.
"Pre-season tours are a pain from my experience with Manchester United," Meulensteen said speaking to BoyleSports, who provide the latest Premier League odds. "Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill managed it really well. You have commercial activity at arm's length because if that is getting the upper hand, you're asking for trouble."
A prime example of such commercial activities impacting performance was when Ten Hag's squad faced Real Betis just three days after their defeat to Arsenal and three days prior to their loss to Liverpool.
Rene Meulensteen (R) served under Sir Alex Ferguson (L) for six years at United (Image: Getty)
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United celebrated a 3-2 victory over their Spanish opponents, however, their decision to participate in non-essential matches may have led to extra strain on the players, and in turn, injuries. As such, Ten Hag is now faced with starting the new campaign without his star striker and most expensive summer recruit.
Commenting on the club's injury woes, Meulensteen said: "In terms of the injuries, it goes back to last season. You have to ask how so many players sustained injuries. Some are impacts in games which you can't do much about, but you have to manage their rest and recovery."
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He further explained the team's approach to managing player fitness: "We were very conscious with our squad, and we had three different groups to manage from a physical point of view. We had the over-30s, who were managed from game to game, so they might step out of training at a certain point.
"We also had a group from about 23 to 30 with high energy who could do high intensity between recovery and matches. Then we had a young group, players from 18 who would have lighter training so you don't overload them."
Meulensteen concluded by emphasising the importance of rest in maintaining player fitness throughout a demanding season: "This was mapped out and that was fed into the training sessions that I ran. It worked because through such a long season with so many competitions, you need to make sure that you keep your squad as fit - and sometimes rest is more important than anything else."
